Everybody loves an underdog. Whether it's David and Goliath or The Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, it's easy to empathize with a small force fighting on against impossible odds, and it's easy to hate someone who picks on the little guy. So making the hero of your story an underdog is a great start. But it's only a start. Here are some tips for making sure your David doesn't fall flat.
1) Keep Your Chin Up - Video game designers know that the secret to keeping people interested in the game is balancing boredom and frustration. If the game is too easy, the player gets bored. If the game is too hard, the player gets frustrated and starts to wonder if it's really worth the effort. Writing a non-interactive story is also a balancing act, but between hope and fear.
Usually it's obvious that the hero is going to win in the end because, well, they're a hero. But if the reader can see exactly how they're going to pull off that stunning victory, there won't be any tension. There has to be a lurking fear that they just might fail.
But don't go overboard on that end either. Darkness and despair are very in style these days, and too many modern writers forget the hope side of the equation. It's not enough to have a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. There has to be some light along the way as well. For example, in The Lord of the Rings, there's a lot of darkness, but there are also happy scenes interspersed throughout the story.
The rule of thumb is that every time the hero comes successfully through an ordeal, you should give them one happy scene as a reward. After Frodo survives the Nazgul on Weathertop, he is reunited with Bilbo in Rivendell. After the Fellowship comes through Moria, they get a few days to rest and recuperate in Lothlorien. After Merry and Pippin survive the Battle of Isengarde, they find food and beer and tobacco in the wreckage. And of course, when the hero passes the final ordeal and achieves his stunning victory, he should get several mega-happy scenes.
1) Keep Your Chin Up - Video game designers know that the secret to keeping people interested in the game is balancing boredom and frustration. If the game is too easy, the player gets bored. If the game is too hard, the player gets frustrated and starts to wonder if it's really worth the effort. Writing a non-interactive story is also a balancing act, but between hope and fear.
Usually it's obvious that the hero is going to win in the end because, well, they're a hero. But if the reader can see exactly how they're going to pull off that stunning victory, there won't be any tension. There has to be a lurking fear that they just might fail.
But don't go overboard on that end either. Darkness and despair are very in style these days, and too many modern writers forget the hope side of the equation. It's not enough to have a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. There has to be some light along the way as well. For example, in The Lord of the Rings, there's a lot of darkness, but there are also happy scenes interspersed throughout the story.
The rule of thumb is that every time the hero comes successfully through an ordeal, you should give them one happy scene as a reward. After Frodo survives the Nazgul on Weathertop, he is reunited with Bilbo in Rivendell. After the Fellowship comes through Moria, they get a few days to rest and recuperate in Lothlorien. After Merry and Pippin survive the Battle of Isengarde, they find food and beer and tobacco in the wreckage. And of course, when the hero passes the final ordeal and achieves his stunning victory, he should get several mega-happy scenes.
2) Nobody Bets On a Horse With a Broken Leg - Underdogs, by definition, stand alone. Only a loyal few believe that they can win. Everybody else thinks they're brave, noble idiots who are going to get crushed. David's own brothers laughed at him when he said he was going to bring down Goliath. Nobody thought he could do it...until he did.
Kelsier, one of the heroes of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn, is one of the Skaa, a downtrodden race who have been slaves for as long as anyone can remember. Kelsier dreams of freedom, but the attitude of the other Skaa is made clear in the first few pages of the story.
'You're satisfied with this then?' Kelsier asked... 'You're content with this life full of beatings and endless drudgery?'
'At least it's a life...I know what malcontent and rebellion bring. The eye of the Lord Ruler and the ire of the Steel Ministry...Men like you preach change, but I wonder, is this a battle we can really fight?'
'You're fighting it already, Goodman Mennis. You're just losing horribly.'"
Mennis is not one of the bad guys. He's not on the Lord Ruler's side either. He's just a tired old man who's had a hard life. It takes extraordinary courage to support an underdog. Remember, the characters are in the same boat as the reader. They have no idea how or even if they're going to win. Not everyone has the strength to live with that uncertainty.
3) Some Things Are Worth Fighting For - So what makes someone fight for a lost cause? Well, the reasons are as diverse as humanity. David wanted to defend the honor of his people and his God. Frodo wanted to protect the Shire. Kelsier wanted to avenge his wife. But at their essence, they're all the same reason. There are some things you just don't give up on, no matter how hopeless it seems.
The most important thing the reader wants to know about the hero is, what does he care about? What does he love? What is he willing to die for? If the answer is 'nothing', they're probably going to put the book back on the shelf and move on to something more interesting. But if you give them a cause they can root for, they will follow you into the fires of Mordor.
So to sum up:
Hope + Fear + Doubt + Love
=
So who's your favorite underdog, real or fictional?
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